


Degrees of Disbelief

by mithrel



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AO3 1 Million, Angst, Blanket Permission, Character Death Fix, Established Relationship, M/M, Podfic Welcome, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 14:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1188219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithrel/pseuds/mithrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Coulson tells Clint he's back, he's not expecting the reception he gets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Degrees of Disbelief

**Author's Note:**

> The rating is for mention of naughty activities, nothing in the fic itself. I wrote this before Agents of SHIELD aired, but I'm just posting it now.

He’s prepared himself for many different reactions. Anger, joy, confusion. He’s prepared for Clint to either kiss him or punch him. But not…this.

Clint shuts down on him completely after the initial widening of his eyes when Phil walked into the room, staying silent, his face utterly expressionless.

“Clint–” he tries.

“Who are you?” Clint demands, his voice raw and wrecked, revealing everything he’s not allowing to show on his face.

“It’s me. Coulson.”

“Coulson’s dead,” Clint replies flatly. “He’s dead, Loki killed him and he’s not coming back.” It has the feel of something memorized, repeated over and over until it’s believed, and Phil feels something in his chest crack.

“It wasn’t safe for me to come back until we were sure Loki was taken care of–” but he stops, because he can see Clint doesn’t believe him.

“On our first mission in Slovakia you botched the drop and got captured. I had to come in after you.”

“You could have read that in the report,” Clint says, voice hard.

Phil sighs. “Barton. I didn’t put that _in_ the report, because if I did we’d both have been reprimanded at the least.”

Clint looks suspicious now, so Phil follows up his advantage.

“You’re afraid of any space you don’t control.” That was something he’d learned early about Clint. He always had an eye on the exits, possible access points, routes of escape. It made him a good sniper, but Phil's always wondered what caused it.

Clint bristles at that, but it’s a look Phil’s familiar with, not the look he was giving him when he first came into the room.

“You were the one to initiate our relationship, because I was desperately trying to remain professional.”

Clint smirks slightly at that, but says, “A lot of people know that.”

Phil nods. “True. But how many of them know you snuck into my room and waited naked in my bed?”

Clint’s jaw twitches, his fingers flex, and he swallows. “…Coulson?”

Phil nods again.

And when Clint collapses to the floor, shaking, Phil walks over, takes him by the arms and pulls him up again.

Clint wraps around him, still shaking, tears streaking down his face. Phil rubs his back and murmurs soothingly into his shoulder.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Degrees of Disbelief (Podfic)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3157742) by [VeegiDawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeegiDawn/pseuds/VeegiDawn)




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